


Outback Halloween

by Pinophyta



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Gen, Halloween, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-30
Updated: 2013-10-30
Packaged: 2017-12-30 23:59:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1024927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pinophyta/pseuds/Pinophyta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's October, and Scout and Sniper are alone in the middle of the Australian wilderness. Scout misses Halloween, and Sniper tries to cheer him up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Outback Halloween

**Author's Note:**

> Stablished Sniper/Scout relationship. 
> 
> Just a little bit of sweetness for Halloween.

He knew he would be missing Halloween since before they parted. Sure, it took a while for him to get that “summer vacation in Australia” really meant “while it's fall in America”, but once that had been clear, he'd been good.

He loved Halloween, but come on: he was going on a freaking adventure, hunting crocodiles and traveling the outback with the best bushman in Australia! He would bring home trophies and shit, his brothers were going to be so jealous! And his mom, relieved. Of course, none of them would know about all the awesome sex he was going to have with the man too, but he had been really excited about that. Hunting all day, doing it all night. It was going to be sweet. Who cared about Halloween when you'd get to do all that instead?

And it had been a great adventure so far, with plenty awesome moments, dangerous moments, and more sex than Scout could handle, as he had been sad to discover. But what can you do about it? Some days are so exhausting that your body just can't do it, no matter how horny your mind is.

But that night, as they sat around the campfire after dinner, enjoying the sunset and the cooling air, he couldn't help but remember. He counted the days, confirming that it was indeed October 31st. Halloween night.

He looked around the campsite, at the distant red horizon and the soon to be impenetrable darkness. Out there it could be creepy enough, but he didn't really find it spooky anymore. Not with Sniper around to pick up every fat spider that made its way inside the van and place it outside, or explain what each strange sound that woke him up at night was. Even when it sounded like there was someone creeping around their van in the middle of the night. Sniper said it was kangaroos. And all Scout could do was curl up against him, take his word for it and try to fall asleep.

There was little that would faze Sniper, and Scout ended up soaking some of that confidence. In any case, the kind of things that were scary in Halloween had nothing to do with their real dangers, like dehydration or snake bites. No, the Halloween scares were supposed to be fun. Silly looking movie monsters, scary stories and all that. He smiled fondly, wondering what his brothers, and his mom, would be doing that night.

Sniper rose from his chair and picked up the empty plate next to Scout. He had noticed the boy's unusual silence, and now was puzzled by his lost gaze. Every day they spent together, he discovered something new about him. He had never seen him in that state, so focused, so... lost in his own thoughts.

“You're quiet.” Sniper tried to break the silence gently, but his rough voice immediately drew the boy's attention. He seemed disoriented for a split second, but then he stretched and moved a bit closer to the fire.

“I was just thinking. It's Halloween tonight, you know?”

Sniper nodded, cleaning up the remains of their dinner. He knew the boy would miss the holiday, sooner or later. He'd been talking about it enthusiastically since September, before Sniper had brought up his plans for October. The excitement over an exotic vacation seemed to override his enthusiasm about Halloween, but by that point it was clear enough for Sniper that he, at the very least, enjoyed the holiday fondly.

“You miss it?” Sniper asked.

Scout scratched the back of his head. “Nah... It's just a dumb thing. Like, I'm too old to go around dressed like a dork asking for candy, you know? But my mom and my brothers still like to put up decorations and stuff. Carve pumpkins and that kind of thing. It's not like it's a big party or whatever, but, you know. And the candy, man! Just picture this: a mountain of candy bars, about this size, okay?” he said, holding his arms in front of him. “Right in front of you, all of it for yourself. Pick one, pick another, sink your freaking head on the pile and you get something delicious. Man, what I wouldn't give for a piece of chocolate right now.” His smile faded slowly, as he became aware of his outburst of excitement. He recovered his composure and fixed his eyes on the fire again. “It's just fun, I suppose.”

Sniper sat at the other side of the bonfire. He examined Scout's face closely, and was surprised when Scout didn't raise his eyes to meet his own. He was really out there tonight. It was odd, but endearing. Although Sniper would never tell him that.

“But it's just a dumb holiday, man.” Scout said. “I wouldn't change this for nothing anyway.” he added, looking at their surroundings.

His voice betrayed his true feelings. Sniper didn't doubt that the boy was honest whenever he said he was enjoying the trip. He was always excited and optimistic, to an extent that Sniper found refreshing. He was always asking questions, always eager to learn. And he listened to what Sniper had to say... most of the time. He was enjoying the camping, the hunting, the exploring. But Sniper was also aware of how tough it was all being on him. The harsh climate and their day to day travel were extremely demanding. Adding nostalgia to the exhaustion couldn't help much. Specially when that nostalgia evoked the sweet taste of delicious chocolate treats. While they had decent meals every day, their food supplies weren't exactly indulgent.

Scout finally raised his gaze briefly, only to return it quickly to the fire as soon as his eyes met Sniper's. He wondered if the man was buying it. Sometimes it was like he could see through him, and right now he felt him looking directly into his mind and seeing how much he missed home. The crunchy leaves and chilly wind, the silly decorations, the tons of delicious candy... The candy his mom would give trick or treaters, of course. Not the special supplies of candy she bought so that there would be something left for trick or treaters on Halloween night.

He smiled reminiscing of that. Sniper got up, and without saying a word he got inside the van. He closed the door behind, too. It took Scout a few moments to realize he had been left alone, outside, in front of a dying bonfire and with the night sky completely dark. It was odd. They always left the door open if one of them was inside and the other one out.

He looked up, wondering what Sniper was doing. He wasn't the kind of guy that advertised everything he did, but if he was going to bed already he would have at least said goodnight or something. It wasn't like him to just lock himself in. Unless he was mad about something.

Scout's mind started racing, trying to figure out what exactly he could have said or done to make the man angry. Thankfully, the slight movement of the curtains inside brought his thoughts to a halt. Those were Sniper's hands alright, and he was taping something to the window.

It was a little black spider, cut out from a small piece of black cardboard, looking at Scout with a silly smile on his face. Scout smiled back. Well, there was their Halloween decoration. It wasn't as scary as the real spiders, but at least this wouldn't bite.

The camper's door opened and Sniper leaned on the frame.

“So, I was thinking...” he crossed his arms, then gently tipped his hat the way he did when he was being playful. “Why don't you try some trick or treatin' tonight?”

A soft red glow spread over Scout's cheeks. He looked around, hoping to find whoever Sniper was talking to, because he could not just be suggesting that right now.

“No offense, man” he said “but I don't see that many houses 'round here.”

Sniper adjusted his hat and shrugged, his laugh lines stretching with a gentle smile.

“Why not try, though? You may get lucky.”

With those words, he turned around and got inside his van, closing the door behind him.

Scout laughed to himself. He had a good guess about what Sniper was playing at, and the mere thought made him all giddy inside. Still, was he really gonna have to follow through with all this?

He got up, brushed the dust off his pants, and walked toward the door of the van. Well, if Sniper really wanted to do this, he was totally going to do this. He would be the best freaking twenty three year old trick or treater in the entire Australian outback.

He straightened his clothes, stood at his best in front of the door, and knocked. Sniper took his sweet, sweet time to open.

“Trick or treat!” Scout exclaimed, an excited grin on his face.

Sniper leaned on the door frame once again, crossing his arms and smiling smugly down at Scout.

“I dunno, kid. What kind of lousy costume is that?”

“What, this?” Scout said, looking down on himself. “Why, this is my best freaking bushman costume! Can't you see? I got the dust, the sunburns and the sweat! Best costume ever.”

Sniper frowned, his mouth pouting but still playful. “I hope you understand, kid. I can't be handing out treats to whoever gets here first.” His voice dropped a little lower. “The treats I got, you gotta earn them...”

Scout arched an eyebrow. Finally, things started to get interesting. “Oh really? They that good, huh?

“Oh yeah, big time. But I'm still not sold, you know!” Sniper cheerily declared. “What happens if I don't give you a treat, huh? What would the “trick” be then?”

Breaking character, Scout sighed. His smile disappeared and he hunched forward.

“Are we really gonna do this?”

Sniper's smile didn't falter one bit. He tapped his fingers and wiggled his eyebrows just a little, enough to let Scout know he wouldn't give in until they continued with the trick or treating.

Scout sighed once more, defeated. He inhaled deeply, plastered a forced smile on his face, and resumed his role.

“I swear to God I'll egg your freaking van, even if I have to harvest the eggs from the trees around here.” he said, pointing at the wilderness surrounding them. “Now, you got any “treats” to give me, or not?”

Sniper gave out a hearty laugh. “Damn you mongrel, you have no patience!”

He raised his hands up on defeat, and turned around to get inside. He pulled a small cardboard box from a dark, hidden corner of the kitchen cabinet. Unceremoniously, he dropped it at the dining table and continued on his way to the bed, not concerned about Scout's reaction.

He walked in behind Sniper, and slowly approached the mysterious package. It was small, and not even sealed. He only had to pull both flaps up a little to see the contents inside.

“Holy shit, is that candy?”

Scout practically dove into the small box. He started pulling out the small chocolate bars and pieces of bright colored candy, and he became overwhelmed by joy. They were Australian brands with weird names he didn't recognize, but they looked pretty normal and delicious. But best of all: there was a good amount of them, and they were all for him.

He started laughing like a maniac, overjoyed by merely having his hands full of the things.

“Dude, I thought you were talking about sex stuff when you were talking about treats, but this is SO MUCH BETTER!”

Confused and slightly offended, Sniper rolled his eyes. He took off his hat, glasses and boots and sat in front of the overjoyed Scout.

“I thought you'd like them.” he said. “I got them in the last supply run we had. They've been sitting there for a while, but I'm pretty sure they haven't melted much.”

Scout had already opened one of the bars and was now devouring it without a hint of modesty.

“Man, oh man!” he managed to say with a mouth full of chocolate. “It's so good!”

Sniper resigned himself to look at the boy loudly eat away, getting his cheeks full like a goddamn chipmunk, and wondered once again how he had ended romantically involved with him.

“Happy Halloween, you mongrel.” he said in a low voice, warmer than any words he had ever pronounced before.


End file.
